This thesis examines Taiwan's cultural diplomacy and its role in maintaining the country's international presence. The introductory chapter establishes the theoretical framework: Nye's concept of soft power, cultural diplomacy as a political instrument, and film festivals as platforms for international cultural communication. The second chapter traces the development of Taiwan's cultural diplomacy across four political periods from 1949 to the present, and incorporates the perspective of Taiwanese scholar Lee Ying-lin on the institutional challenges and future directions of cultural diplomacy. The third chapter focuses on Taiwanese cinema, the festival strategy, and the awards received by Taiwanese films at Venice, Berlin, and Cannes between 1989 and 2025. The analysis demonstrates that Taiwan's festival presence was not the outcome of a deliberate state strategy, but emerged from the autonomous creative practices of individual filmmakers and only subsequently gained institutional support. Film festivals therefore do not represent merely a platform for cultural exchange, but one of the few structural channels through which Taiwan maintains its international visibility and legitimacy under conditions of limited formal diplomatic recognition.
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